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US releases 5 Iranian diplomats

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-07-09 19:25

TEHRAN,Iran: Iran's state television says US forces have released five Iranian diplomats who were detained in 2006 in northern Iraq on suspicion of aiding Shiite Iraqi militants.

An Iranian Shiite Muslim prays at a mosque in a university in Tehran July 6, 2009. [Agencies]

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The Thursday report cites an announcement by Iran's embassy in Baghdad, which said the US army delivered the five diplomats to Iraqi officials.

The detention of the diplomats in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil became a new point of contention between Tehran and Washington.

US authorities said the five detained Iranians included the operations chief and other members of Iran's elite Quds Force, which is accused of arming and training Iraqi militants, a claim that Iran denies.